


Never out of practice

by writeanddontstop



Category: John Wick (Movies), Keanu Reeves - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, occasional smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25104628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeanddontstop/pseuds/writeanddontstop
Summary: When Darcie’s father loses an important case, a killer seeks revenge, by kidnapping the entire Angel family. Though John thought that he was officially retired, he has to save his Darcie and her family, because he can’t lose her.
Relationships: John Wick & Original Female Character(s), John Wick/Original Female Character(s), John wick / Darcie Angel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaayy, John and Darcie are back. I have already posted some of the story on my Tumblr (kind of neglected my AO3), so if you want to read the story with Instagram posts, check out my Tumblr :) https://keanureevesisbae.tumblr.com/post/621448652130549760/masterlist

Today is our one year anniversary. I can’t believe it has been one year. One whole year of John being my boyfriend and me trying to be the best girlfriend I can for him. We’ve been through so much. 

John finally met my parents on my birthday and though my dad was a little bit hesitant, my mom immediately loved him and when my father saw how John treated me, they are the best of friends now. 

John is really enjoying his retirement and tells people that he made some great decisions back in the day and barely has to work anymore. Besides, walking Tiki when I’m working is practically a full time job.

I’m sitting in the passengers seat of his Mustang, with Tiki on my lap. For our one year anniversary I took a day off, because we really wanted to spend time together. ‘John, where are we going?’ I ask him. 

‘I already told you sweetheart, it’s a surprise.’

‘And I think I already told you I don’t like surprises.’

John smiles. His hand pushes up my dress, so he can place his calloused hand on my bare thigh. ‘You’re really gonna like this.’

I look to the side, to admire his handsome face. It’s nice to wake up every single morning, to a drowsy John, with his long raven locks all over his face. I place my head on his shoulder and wrap my arm around his. ‘Time flies,’ I say to him. ‘I know I tell you this all the time and I bet you are sick of hearing it, but I really love you, honey.’

‘You could literally tell me that every second of the day and I wouldn’t get sick of hearing it. Oh, look, baby, we’ve arrived.’

He parks the car and I look out of the window. _Animal shelter?_ ‘John, why the hell are we at an animal shelter?’

‘I’m getting a dog.’

My eyes widen. ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you.’ I smack his arm. ‘You are so full of shit. I thought we were going out for a picnic with Tiki.’

‘Tiki really needs a friend, Darcie.’ John unbuckles our seatbelts and turns in his seat, so he can look at me. ‘We’ve talked about this, sweetheart and don’t you think it’s time for us to get a new dog?’

I sigh deeply. ‘You’re an idiot, Jonathan Wick,’ I tell him. I place my hand on his face, his beard pricks my palm. My thumb touches his lips and I whisper: ‘But I somehow love you like crazy.’

He places his hand on mine and turns his face to press a kiss on my hand. ‘I love you too, baby.’

‘But, you have to promise me that we have to agree on the animal and we will only take _one_ with us. Not two, not three, not the entire shelter.’

John raises his eyebrow, visibly amused. ‘Are you telling me this or yourself?’

I burst into laughter. ‘Why are you acting like I’m the pushover? You are the one who literally can’t say no to our sweet Tiki.’ I place the brown curly haired dog on his lap and say: ‘Only one animal, John, promise me that.’

He sighs deeply. ‘Okay, baby, I promise.’

⟢⟡⟣

Dating John has been an adventure on its own. He slowly told me little pieces of his former life, but I can tell that he has still tons of things he doesn’t tell me. Sure, it upsets me, however I think that it’s not my place to push. He has to tell me on his own time. Whenever he is ready. 

Sometimes I’m still surprised. Why did John choose someone like me? Why would he literally carry me around, not letting me lift any thing remotely heavy (read: groceries, something I carried by myself before I met him) and when we are having dinner back at home (dinner that he made), he pulls me on his lap, wraps his arms around my waist to pull me even closer to his body. We spend every day together since he was officially out and I wonder when he will get tired of me.

Because I know that I’ll never get tired of him, which will make it hurt a little extra when I will find out that he doesn’t want me anymore one day.

I watch John crouch down near a cage, where a grey pitbull is sitting, pressing his nose through the bars of his cage. ‘This one is adorable, Darcie,’ John says, looking up with bright shiny eyes.

God, I love this man.

Since I have Tiki still on a leash, I try to get her reaction. She steps forward and pushes her own nose through the bars of the cage. The pitbull leans down, sniffs her nose and even licks it. Tiki barks of happiness and jumps against the cage. 

The woman of the shelters opens the cage when John asks if that’s a possibility and he slowly steps out of his cage. He looks so friendly. He sniffs John’s face, before giving him a quick lick on his cheek. ‘I love this one,’ John says, patting the dog on his head. 

I now crouch down as well and say: ‘Come here, boy.’ He trots over and sits down in front of me. ‘Do you wanna go home with us?’ I ask him. ‘Oh my God, John, look at this. It looks like he is smiling. We’re taking this one home.’

The dog leans over and licks my face, but doesn’t seem to wanna stop. I squeal. ‘Oh, aren’t you a sweetheart,’ I laugh. 

After John signed the right paper work, we walk out of the shelter, both with a leash in our hand. ‘So,’ I ask him, holding his hand tightly in mine, ‘what do you want to call him?’

He shrugs. ‘Just Dog I guess.’

‘John, oh my God, you can’t call a dog _just_ Dog.’

‘Why not?’ he asks.

‘Imagine if someone asks us what his name is and you just answer: Dog… God, it didn’t even happen yet, but it embarrasses the shit out of me.’

John frowns. ‘But I like it.’

‘Call him Dog and see if he’s listening.’

‘Dog,’ he says, clicking his tongue, ‘come here, Dog.’ 

The grey pitbull doesn’t respond at all, while Tiki looks over her shoulder, to check out what John wants. 

‘Maybe he’s deaf,’ he mumbles. ‘I mean, Tiki even listened.’

‘Because of your tongue click, you know how she reacts to that. I think I have a good name for him. Oreo, come here, Oreo.’

Before John can say something (“Oreo, why the hell do you want to call him Oreo?”—I know him too well), the pitbull looks over his shoulder and walks up to me. I scratch him behind his ear and ask: ‘Do you like the name Oreo?’

He licks my face and I start to laugh.

‘Dog is weird, but Oreo is a normal name?’ John asks. ‘This is really unfair, he likes you more than he likes me.’

‘It’s only fair, since Tiki loves you way too much.’ 

John chuckles and opens the passengers door of his Mustang. He pushes the seat to the front, so the dogs can sit in the back. Tiki adores her new friend, because she leans against him. 

John puts the seat right for me and holds out his hand. ‘My lady,’ he says with a smile. I get in and he closes the door when I sit, walks around the car and gets in. I lean over and press a kiss on his bearded jaw. ‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘For buying a dog that will stay at our apartment.’

‘Oh, baby,’ he laughs, ‘I’m happy that _we_ got one.’ He looks to the backseat, where the two have curled themselves up. ‘Told you she needed a friend.’

‘Oh fuck off.’

‘No swearing in front of the children,’ he says in a semi serious voice. 

I roll my eyes and give him a kiss. ‘Happy one year anniversary, honey.’


	2. Chapter 2

It’s officially October. I’ve always really liked it when it’s autumn again. The only thing is that it’s getting darker earlier on and I’ve never been too keen on the dark. The first year when I owned the cafe, I would be so terrified walking to the bus, that eventually I kept hailing cabs, because dealing with that stress on top of owning a cafe, was too much for me at the time.

Thankfully I have a very tough boyfriend now, who loves to pick me up. Today is no different, except that we go to my parents. For the first time in what seemed like forever, my parents have a night off and they really wanted us over for a late dinner.

Today it’s Jennie’s turn to close off, but somehow Raye managed to stick around. ‘When is your next date?’ Jennie asks. 

‘Tomorrow,’ Raye answers, ‘but I think about cancelling.’

I stop in the middle of cleaning a table. ‘Jen, did I hear that correctly? Raye Clarke is thinking about cancelling a date?’

Jennie nods. ‘I’m still a little shocked. I can’t believe this is happening.’

‘Very funny,’ Raye growls, looking actually annoyed. Geez, what is up with her? ‘It’s just, he sounds so stupid. I was hoping his looks would make up for it. His looks were the only reason that I swiped right. But talking to him and calling with him, he is really stupid.’

For Raye to say something like that, means that either something really bad happened or that she is growing. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask.

She sighs. ‘My brother is coming home next week. My parents are really looking forward to it and they keep calling me, demanding I should at least stop by.’

Jennie and I exchange looks. We know Alex Clarke pretty well. He was about a year older than us, but somehow always managed to bully us through high school. I never understood why a nice girl like Raye had a brother like Alex. Alex would always make racist Asian jokes against me and he once cut off two of Jennie’s braids, causing her to shave her entire head..

‘I hate that guy,’ Jennie admits. ‘God, your brother is so fucking annoying.’

‘And he is introducing us to his fiancée.’

‘That bonehead has a fiancée?’ Jennie exclaims. ‘How is it possible that he is fucking engaged and we,’—she gestures to her and Raye—‘are single?’

Raye has been sad for too long, because she literally shakes it off. She always does that. Being sad isn’t something that happens to her a lot. She always says that she’d rather be fake happy than real sad. I really don’t know if that is such a healthy way of dealing with your emotions, but okay. ‘It’s not until next week,’ she states, ‘so no need to dwell on it. I’m going to cancel that Tinder date and you and I, Jennie, are going to hang out.’

‘You can’t just expect us to hang out together, last minute. Maybe I already have plans.’

‘You don’t,’ Raye says. ‘You honestly don’t have plans, like ever. I know you.’

The door opens and when we all look up, I see my handsome boyfriend in the doorway. Tiki and Oreo rush to me and when I crouch down, they push me on my back, trying to see who can lick my face the most. ‘I missed you guys too,’ I squeal and wrap my arms around the dogs. ‘Oh my God, I love you too, but you have to let me get up. John, please help me.’

‘Come here, guys,’ he says, patting his legs, so they look up and let go of me. 

I manage to push myself up, only to see Oreo sneaking back to me. I scratch his head, causing him to smile at me. I love that cute smile of his. He is such a big fat baby, always curling up beside me on the couch and always wanting to get in bed with us, but John sends Oreo and Tiki out every time we go to sleep. Somehow he got through an entire year of dating without letting Tiki sleep in our bed and now that we have Oreo, he hasn’t changed his opinion about it. I personally wouldn’t mind if the dogs were in our bed, but John says that he wants me all to himself when we’re sleeping and to be honest, I think that is really sweet.

John walks up to me. ‘Hi sweetheart,’ he says, before kissing me on my forehead. ‘Ready to go?’

‘I am, let me just get my bag.’

I rush to the kitchen and after I collected all my stuff, including my jacket, I give Raye and Jennie a big hug. ‘Say hi to your parents from me,’ Jennie says.

‘Will do. See you two tomorrow.’

‘Bye mommy, bye daddy,’ Raye says and I glare at her. ‘It’s funny and you like it, admit it.’

I send her the finger and with John—who is enjoying this way too much—and our dogs, I walk to the car. While the dogs get in the back, John puts my seat in the right place, but he stops me before we can get it. ‘What is it, honey?’ I ask him.

‘I really missed you.’ He gives me a long kiss and afterwards pulls me in a tight hug. 

This isn’t really how he usually is. I frown. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Can’t I show my wonderful girlfriend how much I love her?’ 

I lean back, so our eyes meet. His dark eyes are so full of love and I can’t help to fall even more in love with him. He is so gorgeous and my boyfriend. Sometimes I still can’t comprehend it. ‘Of course, but… I don’t know. Just wondering.’

I get in the car and when John sits next to me, I still can’t help but worry a little. He has a frown between his brows and when he holds onto the steering wheel, he is also a bit tense, his knuckles almost turning white. When he feels me staring at him, he looks to the side. ‘What’s up, sweetheart?’

‘I love you, you know that right?’

John smiles. ‘I do know that and I also know that you are worried, but please don’t. Going to your parents still makes me a bit nervous.’ 

‘Why is that? They love you, especially my mom and when you let my dad drive around in your Mustang, he instantly wanted you to be his son in law.’ I place my hand on his. ‘No need to be nervous.’

John parks the car in front of my parents home, but I stop him before he can get out. ‘How about that when we get home and you’re still tense,’ I whisper, ‘I’ll help you relax a bit?’

His eyes widen and a grin appears on his face. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I think a back massage could do wonders.’

He laughs, placing his hand on his chest. ‘You had me there for a second. That is just mean, Darcie.’

I stick out my tongue. We get out of the car and with the dogs we walk to the front door of the house that I grew up in. The door flies open, to reveal both of my parents. My mom nearly pushes me aside to hug John. Mom always wanted to two kids, a boy and a girl. My father once told me that three years before they had me, they were expecting a boy, but in the seventh month of her pregnancy, his heart just stopped beating. They never knew why he never survived and when I asked her at age five why everyone had sibling, except me, she threw her bowl filled with soup against the wall and yelled at me that I should’ve never ask a question like that again.

When I finally got a boyfriend, she thought that she’d treat her son in law like a real son, but she never wanted anything to do with Eric. She hated his guts and at the time I felt awful for not liking her as much as I used to. I mean, Eric was my boyfriend, wasn’t she supposed to be happy?

But the way she loves John like he is her son, though he is only ten years younger than her, warms my heart. I know a tiny bit about his earlier life, how he was an orphan. The way he was welcomed in my family, I know it means a lot to him. When he met my parents for the first time and we got back to the apartment, he told me about how wonderful it felt to belong in a family.

He never really told me anything about Helen’s family, but I feel like sometimes I shouldn’t ask too much about her. I always feel a bit guilty after talking about her, I don’t know why. 

But knowing that he was happy to belong to a family and that he would do everything to keep all of us safe (he said so himself), it made me realize once again that John is a good man and that I should never let him go.

I give my dad a hug. ‘I missed you, dad,’ I say to him.

‘Oh, munchkin, I missed you too.’

‘You look tired,’ I note, looking at his dark circles under his eyes.

‘Tough case, that’s all. Don’t you worry about me Your old man can handle it.’

⟢⟡⟣

‘Mom, really?’ I ask her, when I see there are only _three_ chairs at the table. ‘We have four chairs, I know that.’

‘One is broken,’ she lies without skipping a beat. No wonder she is one of the best attorneys ever. For a second I believed her, but I know my mom and I know she’s up to something. My dad and her sit each on a chair, leaving only one left. ‘You can sit on your boyfriends lap.’

Oh my God, I thought once you weren’t a teen anymore, you wouldn’t be ashamed of your mother—guess I was wrong. ‘Mom,’ I whine, ‘please.’

‘Oh Darcie,’ she says. ‘I really like you two together. How do young people call it? Sailing?’

I’m visibly cringing. She always does that, trying to keep up with trends. It was funny when I was young, it was embarrassing when I was a teen, but now I’m thirty one, I really want her to stop doing that. ‘Mom, first of all: it’s called shipping, not sailing. Second of all: John and I are already dating, no need to force us together.’

John can’t hide his amusement. ‘Come on, baby,’ he says, sitting on the only chair left. ‘It’s not so bad.’ He holds my hand and pulls me to him. Knowing I can’t win this (and I’m definitely not eating my dinner standing up), I plop on his lap and my mother, who is a grown woman of sixty, hides her smile behind her hand. 

‘I can’t believe you,’ I say to her, but I wrap my arm around John’s shoulders. Not wanting to give this sort of behavior any more attention than it should get, I turn to my father. ‘So, dad, how’s work?’ I ask.

‘It’s okay,’ he says. ‘I’m defending the family of Whitney Bell.’

I’ve heard about that case. Whitney Bell was a twenty five year old woman, whose ex-boyfriend brutally murdered her and dumped her in Central Park. I just didn’t know my dad was defending her family. But come to think of it, I barely spoke him these last few weeks and though I think my parents are doing a great job with the people who they defend, I barely keep up with it, even when it’s in the news all the time. 

At first I was a bit nervous to talk to John about this case, since… Well… You know… 

But he sat me down and for the first time, he actually mentioned his work, without me asking for it first. He told me that he only killed men who were better off dead than alive. He would never kill a woman or a child and it kind of eased my mind. Not that I was scared that he would murder me.

‘Must be rough,’ John says, before taking a sip of his drink. 

‘It is. Family cases like this, it always pains me when I hear their stories. I asked Whitney’s parents to bring a picture of Whitney, to show the jury. Though I asked for one, they brought all their pictures they have of her with them.’ Dad looks at his glass and adds: ‘Parents always do that. I get it, you know. If something happened to you, Darcie, I’d be dragging every picture I have of you with me, to show the jury.’

‘I’m sorry, dad,’ I whisper, but loud enough for him to hear.

‘Don’t be, munchkin. It’s nothing I can’t handle.’ Dad smiles, but I don’t buy it. He is stressing out. ‘Tomorrow in the late afternoon we’ll hear how he is being sentenced for life.’ He wants to sound like he’s got everything under control, but he fails miserably. 

John must picked up on his nerves too, because he suggests: ‘How about you and I take a drive in the Mustang after dinner, Christian?’

‘That would sure ease my mind,’ dad laughs and thankfully it’s a bit more real this time.

We talk during dinner about the customers, John’s book binding (causing my mom to say she has some old books) and our dogs, who are curled up beside each other.

John and dad are about to go for a drive in the Mustang, but before John leaves, he picks up Tiki, since she really want to go with him and he presses a kiss on my cheek. ‘I love you, sweetheart,’ he whispers. 

My mom manages to keep quiet, but as soon as the front door is shut, she asks: ‘When are you going to give me grandchildren?’

‘Mom! What the hell?’

‘Oh come on, sweetheart,’ mom laughs. ‘I know you are thinking about it. I mean, you call each other mom and dad.’

‘When we’re talking to or about our dogs,’ I defend myself. ‘I know you want grandchildren, but please, don’t say that sort of stuff when he is around. I’m afraid it might scare him off.’

‘Why?’ she asks. ‘I mean, he loves you dearly and I bet he wants kids with you. I mean, who wouldn’t?’

I can’t believe that last makes me blush. ‘I know that, but it is so far ahead in the future, I don’t want to think about it yet.’

Mom wraps her arms around me, giving me a kiss on my cheek. ‘Okay, I’ll shut up about grandchildren. But you are my favorite sail.’

‘ _Ship_ , mom, it’s called a ship. And just say couple, please. There is no need to “fit” in with the cool kids.’

‘Yet you knew exactly what I was talking about.’

‘That’s because I have high school kids hanging around the cafe all day every day. I need to fit in with the cool kids.’ 

We plop on the couch and Oreo stretches himself out, waddles over to us and sits between us. 

‘Mom, be honest with me now. Is dad really okay?’

‘You know how he is,’ she sighs. ‘Gets too wrapped up in a case.’ Mom squeezes my cheek and whispers: ‘He’ll be fine after tomorrow, like he always is after he has won a case.’

Mom and I cuddle up with Oreo, who has been the sweetest companion so far, ever since we rescued him from the shelter. He eventually is sitting a little behind me on the couch, his head placed on my shoulder. 

The front door opens. My father is laughing, but when I look at him, I see his eyes are swollen and a bit red. ‘Dad, are you okay?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, sweetheart, I’m fine. Just hit my head.’

My mother stands up and wraps her arms around my father. ‘Oh _nae wangjamin_ ,’ she soothes, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Tiki rushes to her big brother and jumps on top of him. He simply licks her face, not annoyed by her antics. He never is. 

John walks up to me and scratches Oreo’s head. ‘Maybe we should go home,’ John says, ‘it has been a long day.’

I simply nod and when we announce that we’re leaving, my mom gives me a tight hug. When I hold my dad, I’m instantly worried again. This is not who he is, I hardly recognize him anymore. ‘I love you, dad and if something is wrong, just tell me, okay? I’m one phone call away.’

Dad nods. ‘I love you too, munchkin and I will call you.’


	3. Chapter 3

John knew that one day, he was going to marry Darcie, but since they were taking it slow, he always thought that he’d propose to her in about two years of dating, maybe even more. He could’ve known that that would change.

Waking up to Darcie’s beautiful face every single morning, is the best way to start his days. One day she woke up before he did—usually on Sunday—and when he walked into the living room of her apartment, he saw her sitting on the floor in his oversized shirt, scratching Oreo’s belly, while Tiki was licking his face. She was giggling and John realized that he never wanted this dream to end.

John never thought he would find love again, but with Darcie, he got another chance and he was not going to let this slip through his fingers. He nearly lost her once, he is not losing her a second time.

Yesterday, when he took her father for a drive in the Mustang, he confessed how much he loved Darcie. Everyday he realized how lucky he was to be around her, to get to witness her kindness and be loved by her.

And then… he just did it.

He asked Christian for his blessing. John had yet to find a ring, he had yet to think about how he was going to propose to Darcie, but one thing he knew: he wants to spend the rest of his entire life with her.

Texting both of Darcie’s best friends the next day was the only logical thing to do. Since Jennie had to go to work, Raye decided to go with him for a first look for engagement rings.

‘I still can’t believe you’re going to propose,’ Raye says, as they walk to the jewelry store John really wanted to check out first. ‘This is beyond exciting!’

‘You really don’t think it’s too soon?’

‘No, I don’t think so. She is totally crazy about you. When you’re not in the cafe, we sometimes have to tape her mouth shut, because she simply can’t shut up about you. But, to ease your mind, mister Mustang, Jennie is going to ask her today what she thinks about marriage and stuff.’

‘You girls don’t talk about that?’

‘Barely, we mostly talk about food, because men are stupid and food is not.’ She looks up and pokes his side. ‘Well, you are an exception of course. We do talk a lot about you and especially your cute toosh.’

John’s cheeks burn. ‘Thank you, Raye.’ He opens the door for Raye and she squeals when she sees all the shiny diamonds as soon as she steps inside.

‘Right,’ she reminds herself, ‘we’re here to look for an engagement ring for the future Mrs. Wick.’ Raye gasps. ‘Oh my God, you’re going to be Mr. and Mrs. Wick. This is so adorable.’

For a second John wished Jennie was her with him instead, but knowing Raye, she will make this first glance for engagement rings pretty memorable. Besides, he doesn’t have to buy a ring right away. A small orientation is enough and he wants the input of her friends.

They glance through the glass displays, but no ring is good enough for Darcie. She needs something elegant, but also something to show the world that she’s taken.

John remembers that dark day clearly. Two weeks ago a group of salesmen walked into the cafe and while they were ordering, someone was insanely interested in _his_ Darcie.

When she brought them their order, the man started talking to her and there is nothing wrong with that. People are allowed to talk to her, obviously. John didn’t want to be possessive, but seeing this man checking her out without shame, made his blood boil.

‘So, sweetheart,’ the man said, ‘why isn’t your number with the order?’

Darcie had chuckled. ‘I don’t just hand out my number to customers.’

‘Come on,’ he tried to coax her, flashing her a smile. ‘Make an exception for me.’

‘Well, I already made an exception and he is now my boyfriend.’ She turned around and pointed at John. ‘That’s him over there. Gentlemen, enjoy your drinks.’ Darcie walked up to John, a smile evident on her face. She must’ve sensed his frustration, because she placed a kiss on his bearded cheek and said: ‘I’m your girlfriend, remember that.’

It had eased his mind of course, knowing that she had only eyes for him and he had known that for a while. Every time they went out on a date and Darcie looked gorgeous, he catches men staring at her. He understood, because she is an absolute vision, but he needed other men to back off.

And an engagement ring might help with that.

‘Wait,’ he says to Raye, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. ‘What do you think about this one?’

He points to a ring with two bands woven into each other, with a rectangular bright diamond, perfectly cut. Compared to all the other rings he has seen, this one is delicate and would fit perfect around Darcie’s finger.

Raye stares at the shiny ring for a moment and says: ‘It looks gorgeous. I mean, Darcie would’ve liked all these rings, but this one seems to fit her the best. I’ll make a picture and send it to Jennie.’ Before John can say something, she quickly adds: ‘No worries, I’ll make sure Jennie doesn’t let Darcie see.’

While Raye texts her friend, John asks the clerk if he can see the ring up close. The man shows it to him and the more he looks at it, the more he is certain that this is _the_ ring. Did he really find a ring this soon in the process? Should he look for another one? Or is this it?

‘Well,’ Raye says, pulling him back into reality, ‘Jennie is in love and wants you to propose to her.’

John chuckles. ‘I think this is the one, Raye,’ he says, showing her the ring. ‘I mean, you can see Darcie wearing this right?’

‘Totally,’ Raye says, staring at the diamond. ‘God, it’s beautiful. I wonder how much it is.’

John asks the clerk how much the ring is, though he knows that he’ll buy it anyway.

‘Ten thousand five hundred and sixty dollars, sir.’

Raye nearly faints. ‘Oh my fucking God, that is so insanely expensive,’ she says in a loud voice, causing people to look over at them. ‘You sure you love Darcie that much? I bet there are other rings that are a close second.’

John looks at the ring again and says to the clerk: ‘I’m buying it.’

‘What?’ Raye says. ‘You are going to spend more than ten thousand dollars on a ring for her?’

‘Of course,’ John says shrugging. ‘This is the perfect ring for her, there is no way in the world I’m not buying this. I want to propose to her with this ring.’

⟢⟡⟣

‘Did you ask her about marriage?’ John asks, while he is sitting in his car, his phone on handsfree. It’s eight p.m. and he is about to pick up Darcie from the cafe. Jennie already went home, but he needed to know. She promised she’d ask.

‘Of course I did,’ Jennie says. ‘I asked her whether or not she wanted to marry you one day.’

Jennie keeps quiet, causing John to grow a bit impatient and asks: ‘And?’

‘And she said that she had multiple daydreams about you standing at the altar, looking at her as she walks down the aisle.’ She starts to laugh and says: ‘If you are worrying about her saying no, let me tell you this, John: the girl is smitten. She is so happy with you and though she didn’t say it in exactly these words, she really wants to spend the rest of her life with you.’

John leans back in his seat, sighing deeply. He is not proposing tonight, though he really wants to. If it was up to him, he’d marry her tonight.

‘What’s on your mind?’ Jennie asks when he doesn’t say anything.

‘Nothing,’ John says. ‘I want it to be perfect, you know.’

‘I understand, but I can guarantee she will love it no matter how you’re proposing. Wait, no, that’s a lie. I know this has nothing to do with proposing, but please listen to this. Back in high school, the most popular guy asked her to go to prom with him. In the middle of the cafeteria, microphone and all. Everyone was watching. You could feel the anticipation rise with every passing second.’

‘What did Darcie do?’ John asks, with a smile on his face.

‘Oh, poor girl nearly fainted. She finally managed to pull herself back together and said: “I’m going to take your request into consideration”. In front of the entire school, right into the microphone.’

John hears Jennie laugh and he can’t help but laugh as well. ‘Well, I don’t want that to happen.’

‘Oh my God, you really don’t. After she said that, she walked away and he followed her. They did eventually go to prom together and they became prom king and queen. She stood there, with the crown on her head, probably wishing she could just disappear. Poor girl is scarred for life, everything that has to do with that kind of unexpected public attention. So promise me you won’t propose to her in public with a crowd.’

‘I won’t. Look, I’m at the cafe, Jennie. Thank you for today.’

‘Yeah, totally. Just tell us when you’re going to propose, okay? We really want to help you to make it as perfect as possible.’

After he hangs up on her, he turns around to look at the dogs. ‘What do you say, kids?’ he asks. ‘You think she is going to say yes when I propose?’

Tiki barks and jumps to the front seat, while Oreo wags his tail, smiling at his owner.

John chuckles and grabs the leashes. He walks to the cafe, with the two dogs walking in front of him. He hid the ring in her apartment, but he placed it in the safe with his three guns and m.o.. When he sort of moved in her apartment, he told her about it, said that having guns around, made him feel safer. More secure. She said it was okay.

She did know the safe combination, he wanted her to know, but knowing Darcie, she’ll never look inside. She told him once that she didn’t want to know about all the guns he owns and how he can use them and he respected that.

Now, it comes in handy.

He opens the door of the cafe. There is no one there, but he hears a: ‘John, I’m almost done!’ from the kitchen.

Within seconds she flicks off the kitchen lights and her entire face lights up. ‘There are my babies,’ she says, crouching down and spreading her arms, inviting the dogs to rush to her. ‘Oh my God, I missed you two so much.’ She gives them both a big kiss on top of their heads. ‘Were you good to your dad today?’ she asks in a high pitched voice.

‘They were very good,’ John answers, staring at his beautiful girlfriend. Since it keeps getting colder and colder, her sweaters are getting thicker and thicker. She owns a lot of knitted ones and he can’t decide which one is the cutest, but seeing her in this light pink color, makes his heart skip a beat.

Personally, John never really cared about colors. He barely saw the difference. Once Helen painted an entire wall in a soft yellow color, but it took him four hours to notice it, after she pointed it out to him. But Helen mostly liked the warmer beige kind of colors.

The amount of pink and other pastel colors that Darcie has in her house, is really overwhelming and he can’t not notice. But sleeping underneath the pink blankets and sipping his morning coffee out of a baby blue mug, makes him feel at home. He loves every second of it and since the colors make her happy, it makes him happy.

Darcie walks over to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders. ‘I missed you so much, honey,’ she whispers in his ear, causing shivers down his spine. He pulls her small frame against his, lifting her off her feet.

‘How are you doing?’

‘I can’t wait to go home,’ she admits.

He presses a long kiss on her cheek. ‘You want me to give you a piggyback ride to the car?’

‘We’re adults, John. I can walk.’

‘I’m going to carry you to the car no matter what.’

He keeps his promise, because five minutes later, they closed off the cafe and Darcie is on his back, holding on tight, while he holds the leashes of their dogs. She presses soft kisses on his neck. ‘I love you, mister Wick,’ she says.

‘Really?’

‘Mhm, so incredibly much. The entire day I’ve been waiting for the day to end, so I could see you again. Does that sound too clingy?’

John laughs. ‘Not at all. I wish I could spend every single second with you.’

‘You’d get bored of me.’

‘Not a chance.’

He helps her in the passenger seat. While John drives off, he keeps on talking about the cute things Oreo did today and how Tiki is such a hyperactive one, compared to her brother.

But he barely gets a responds. ‘Sweetheart, what’s wrong?’

‘I figured you haven’t watched the news,’ Darcie says. ‘My dad lost the case. Pete Stanford is a free man.’

With the whole proposal and looking for a ring, he totally forgot that was today. He holds her hand and gives it a tight squeeze. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’

‘My dad was devastated. He worked so hard on it and now… I don’t think he has lost a case ever since he owned Angel and Moon.’

‘How is he doing?’

‘Well, he kind of wants to be left alone now. Tomorrow he will stay at home with my mom, they will talk about it and hopefully he can go back to work on Monday, without him feeling guilty.’

John kisses her fingers. ‘I’m sorry, baby. Is there something we can do for him?’

‘Don’t think so, maybe next week.’ From the corner of his eyes, he spots that she looks to the side. ‘You are so thoughtful, thinking about what we can do for him.’

John almost feels giddy, but he simply clears his throat. ‘Well, your dad is family. Of course I want to do something for him.’

Once they are home and the dogs waddle off to the couch, curling up beside one another, Darcie walks off to the kitchen, to make herself some tea. Though John wished he could do every single thing for her, she usually swats his hands away. ‘You already do so much for me,’ she would say to him. ‘I’d like to have the illusion there are things I can do.’

John leans against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms and looking at the petite woman next to him, making them some tea.

‘You’re looking at me with your bedroom eyes,’ Darcie says with a chuckle, forgetting about her father and the case. ‘Does this sweater turn you on?’

He loves it so much when she jokes around like that. The better he got to know her, the more frequent those kind of comments became. ‘Well,’ John laughs, ‘everything you wear or do turns me on.’

She was pretty confident about ten seconds ago, but now she blushes. She pushes her mug to the back of the counter, so the dogs can’t reach if they disobey and place their paws on the edge of the counter. She stands on her toes and gives him a long kiss. ‘Really everything?’

John hoists her up, throwing her over his shoulder as he walks them to the bedroom.

‘John,’ she squeals, smacking his back. ‘What are you doing?’

He places her carefully on the bed and takes off his white shirt. ‘What do you think?’ he asks, closing the door behind him. ‘Someone informed me that I was looking at you with my bedroom eyes.’

Darcie smiles at him, almost turning him into a puddle. This woman has a certain effect on him, he never knew anyone could have. She takes off her knitted sweater, revealing a tight tank top. After she throws the flimsy material to the side, she’s left in her white lace bra.

God, he loves it when she wears that one. John helps to unbutton her pants. Her skin is slowly losing the sun kissed color, after spending the entirety of summer in short skirts and dresses.

Seeing her body on the bed in her bra and pink underwear, makes him almost lose his patience. He wants her, now.

He crawls on top of her, pressing his lips against hers and she wraps her legs around his hips.

‘John,’ she mewls, ‘I need you, please.’

Hearing her talk to him in that needy voice… He almost cums in his pants at that moment, but he composes himself, letting a cheeky smile form on his lips. ‘I know you do, baby,’ he whispers.

John stands up and unbuckles his pants, letting it drop to the floor. When he sits between her thighs again, she somehow turns him on his back, straddling his hips. Barely does she take control like that, mostly because she’s still too embarrassed to let go like that.

Gradually, her moans are becoming a little louder. He hates it that she thinks that she’s not good enough for him, not sexy enough and every day he wonders what he could do to make her realize that he is in it for the long run, that every thing she does, is good enough for him.

_He could propose._

Darcie places her hands on his shoulders, pushing him further into the mattress. Her soft lips are pressed against his and his hands wander to her hips. Every place she kisses him, leaves a burning sensation behind. His neck, his collarbone, the scares on his chest. His underwear is getting real tight.

Her fingers hook around the waistband of his short and she pulls it down, revealing his painfully hard cock, some pre-cum covering his tip.

Darcie licks the drops away and John groans in frustration. Her hand wraps around his thick cock, licking the base.

She barely does this, but when she does, it nearly kills him. His chest rises up and down in a fast pace and he can’t help it but let a strangled moan escape from his lips when she takes him in. Normally she goes about halfway, but he doesn’t know what is going on with her tonight, but she takes him in further than she’s ever done. He can feel his tip at the back of her throat.

‘Fuck, baby,’ he manages to choke out. He sits up straight and grabs her long straight locks, so they don’t get in her face. It takes him all his will power to not buck his hips. He watches her as she bobs her head, slightly gags when she takes him a little further.

Her innocent eyes look up and to make things even harder, she winks at him. He grabs her by her shoulders, to pull her on top of him. ‘You,’ he pants, ‘are gonna be the death of me.’

Darcie smiles at him. ‘John,’ she whines, ‘I was just getting started.’

He unclasps her bra, revealing her perky breasts. He folds his lips around her hardened nipple. ‘You like these panties?’ he whispers against her sensitive skin.

She lets out a chuckle. ‘No, it was the only— Oh my God, John! Did you just rip it apart?’ She looks down, to see her underwear in shreds in his hands. ‘Impressive,’ she chuckles, grabbing his face, before kissing him.

Her tongue explores his mouth, his hands wandering from her lovely hips, to her ample behind.

To his own dismay she lets go, to reach for a condom in the drawer of the nightstand. She rips the foil package open and rolls the rubber on his cock. Still on top, she holds his memberin her delicate hand and brings it near her wet entrance.

Darcie feels so fucking tight around him. He watches her slowly sinking on him, until he is balls deep inside of her. She places her hands on his chest and starts riding him.

He needs to keep his shit together, because he is about to cum. His thumb plays with her clit, hoping to send her over the edge before he is.

Like always, only soft whimpers leave her lips.

‘Come on, baby,’ he whispers, ‘let me know you feel.’

When he gets zero response from her, he bucks up his hips, setting the pace. Taken by surprise, a moan leaves her lips.

‘That’s my girl,’ John smiles. He pulls her close to his chest and turns them over, so he is on top again. He speeds up his thrusts, unable to hold in.

‘Fuck,’ Darcie groans.

Her walls are tightening around him. ‘Let go, sweetheart,’ he whispers, ‘I’m really close too.’

Her legs start to shake and for the first time, her soft gasps turn into loud moans, filling the room. ‘Fuck, John,’ she cries out and that sends him over the edge. They ride out their hightogether and John pulls out of her, causing her to whimper at the loss of connection.

John throws the condom in the bin and does what he always does; engulfing his sweet tiny Darcie in his arms.

‘Mister Wick,’ she pants, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, baby.’ He tilts her head and says: ‘Don’t get embarrassed, but I love it when you take control like that.’

She does get embarrassed. ‘Really?’

‘I do,’ he says, propping himself on his elbow, so he can look at her a bit better. ‘And you were louder tonight.’

‘I know.’ She hides her face in her hands. ‘God, I bet I sounded like a moron.’

‘Don’t do that,’ John tells her, pulling her hands from her face. ‘Look at me, baby.’

She hesitates for a second, but when she looks up, her eyes squinted together, almost as she is afraid of what he might say.

‘It makes me happy when you let me know how you feel. You should let me know how I make you feel, okay?’ He pecks her nose and whispers: ‘That’s very important to me.’

Darcie nods. ‘Okay.’

‘The fact that you can be hot as hell and as cute as a button two minutes later, it drives me crazy.’

‘Shut up,’ she laughs, trying to get away from him, but he is a lot stronger and holds her close to his chest. ‘John, let me go. I need to clean my face.’

‘One kiss,’ he says. ‘Just one.’

‘Okay, okay.’ She presses a short peck on his lips, but John pulls her back, his fingers tangled in her hair. ‘John,’ she groans against his lips. ‘You said one kiss.’

‘It is one kiss.’ He can’t seem to let her go, but he knows his Darcie. He knows that she is going to clean her face no matter what and he lets her go.

‘I’ll be back here before you know it.’ She gets up out of bed, grabs John’s shirt off the floor and throws it on. She sends him one last smile, before she exits the room.

John can’t help but smile. Yeah, he really wants to marry her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sunday mornings are my favorite mornings. The cafe opens at twelve and it’s the only day in the week where I don’t have to leave at seven, to prep the cafe.

But, no matter if I have to go to work or not, I get up at six. I just can’t help it. I want to surprise John with a breakfast in bed. When I saw him in bed, so relaxed and precious, I couldn’t help but smile. He really is the love of my life.

Our rose tea is setting, while I prepare Tiki and Oreo’s food, with the two of them sitting near my feet, patiently waiting for their food to arrive.

Tiki whimpers as she stares at her bowl.

‘I know, sweetheart, but have a little patience,’ I say.

I feel two strong arms around my waist. ‘Good morning, beautiful,’ John whispers in my ear. ‘Have I told you that you look really good in my shirts?’

‘You have told me once or twice.’

While I store away the kibble, John places the bowls on the floor. The dogs eat their breakfast and John lifts me up and places me on the counter. ‘How are you feeling, baby?’ he asks, standing between my legs.

‘A little sore,’ I admit, adding a wink. ‘But overall, I feel good.’ I fold my hands in the back of his neck. ‘Why are you out of bed?’ I ask him.

‘I missed my lady.’

‘I was going to make you some breakfast in bed, but now you ruined my surprise.’

John places his large hands on my bare thighs. ‘We can make breakfast together and eat it in bed,’ he suggests.

‘Or you make me breakfast and bring it to me in bed,’ I say with a grin.

He laughs. ‘Or I make you breakfast, but you sit right here, so I can look at your beautiful face.’ John pecks my lips, squeezes my thighs.

‘Sounds like a plan,’ I chuckle and I watch him prepare the pancake batter.

I let out a sigh in content, leaning my head against the cupboard. Somehow my mind wanders off from last night, to what my mother said. I told her that I didn’t want to think that far ahead into the future, but somehow it’s the only thing I can think about, no matter what I do or where I am.

Yesterday, when I saw two little kids in the cafe, with their parents, my heart started beating a little faster. The dad with the four year old girl on his lap, the mom with a two year old boy against her chest, who was fast asleep.

I can see myself having kids with John one day. I thought about it since the first time he called me ‘mommy’ when he spoke to Tiki. Though the birth part still scares the living daylight out of me (thank you for ruining that for me, _mother_ , by forcing me to watch that program), I can see a future with little kids running around our house. Maybe two, a boy and a girl, or three, I don’t know.

I wonder what John would be like as a father. I bet he—despite his upbringing—would be such a loving and doting dad, who would spoil the kids to death, but also discipline them, teaching them right and wrong. He would be so involved, I imagine, especially since he is already retired.

The idea of fostering older kids, I still want that, but maybe a little later, when our own kids are older.

Our _own_ kids…

Well, it’s what I want really. Having kids with him one day.

‘Darcie,’ John says, causing me to snap out of my thoughts.

‘What?’ I ask.

‘You looked a little daze. I was wondering where you were with your mind.’

‘I’m sorry.’ I smile at him and say: ‘Just daydreaming.’

His smile grows wide. ‘Care to let me in?’

‘Nah, think it’s too soon to talk to you about this.’

‘I highly doubt that,’ John says. ‘If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay, but you can talk to me about anything. I hope you know that.’

I take a deep breath and nod. John is still stirring the pancake batter. I always use the mixer, but I think this is John’s way of showing off. Watching him flex is muscles… I mean, you don’t hear me complaining.

‘Do you want kids?’ I blurt out, unable to keep it to myself. ‘With me, obviously.’

John doesn’t seem fazed at first, but when he looks up, his eyes has widened. ‘You’re thinking about kids?’

‘When we were at my parents and you and dad went out for a drive, my mom was wondering when I would be giving her grandchildren. I told her that that was too far ahead in the future, but since that moment I can’t stop thinking about it. And you are giving me no reaction at all. I bet you’re freaking out, so yeah, I’m going away, to call my mom and to tell her that it’s all her fault that you and I are breaking up, because of this kid thing and then I’ll go to Jennie, because I’m too embarrassed. I’m so sorry.’

I jump off the counter and want to walk away, but John grabs my hand. ‘Don’t go,’ he whispers. He slowly pulls me back, so I’m standing right in front of him. His pointer finger lifts up my chin, since I’m just staring at his chest. ‘I’m not breaking up with you, because you brought up our future. There is no need to be embarrassed for thinking about that.’

‘So you are not freaking out?’ I ask.

‘No, I was just a bit surprised, but I’m not freaking out.’ He smiles at me and presses a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘But to answer your question: I have given it a thought,’ John admits. ‘And well, I would love it to have a mini you or me running around one day. Maybe more.’

My eyes practically roll out of their sockets. He really wants kids with me? Am I dreaming? ‘You want that?’ I ask, just to be sure. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, of course.’ He smiles, thin lines appearing near his eyes. ‘I mean, I can see you being such a lovely and caring mom. I just thought you said you wanted to foster.’

‘I still want that,’ I say, ‘but when I said that, I didn’t know you that well. I didn’t know you were the most caring and loving man I would ever meet. I talked to Eric about it when we were dating, but he didn’t want kids, probably because he was hiding one from me. The idea of having our little kids running around… I can see it happen.’

John smiles. ‘So you want to have kids with me.’ _Why does he look oddly pleased with himself?_

‘I mean, I could run around Times Square, yelling that I want kids and need some sperm, see who is going to respond.’

He bursts into a loud laughter, hiding his face in his hands. ‘You’re not doing that,’ he tells me, ‘because the only one who is getting you pregnant, is me.’

‘Oh my God, John,’ I say, a blush appearing on my cheeks. ‘You have to say it like that?’

He holds back a chuckle and kisses my forehead. ‘How about: You’re not doing that, because you and I will have kids one day.’

I bite my lip and fist his shirt between my fingers. ‘Yeah that’s better.’

‘I’m proud of you, Darcie.’

‘Why is that?’

‘You never talk about the future,’ he admits, ‘nor do you ever want to think that far ahead, but somehow you—voluntarily—mentioned something that involves our future.’ He shrugs. ‘I mean, you are definitely growing.’

Tiki barks and I look down to her and Oreo, whose tails are both wagging. ‘I think they need to go out for a walk,’ I say.

‘First you and I have some breakfast, than those two are getting their walks.’

⟢⟡⟣

The entire workday I couldn’t help but think about two things. One, how John wants kids with me and two, about how Pete Stanford is a free man. Those things are a horrible combo.

The cafe is about to close and the only two customers who are still here, are Roger and Ellie. It still melts my heart to see the Roger treats his new girlfriend. I love having her around here. When things are a little busy, she gets up from the table and helps us out for a quick second. She truly is one of a kind.

‘Okay you two,’ I say to them. ‘The cafe closes in three minutes.’

‘Almost done, miss Angel,’ Roger says, scribbling something down.

Ellie closes her books and says with a smile: ‘I had to help Roger with his algebra homework.’

‘You are a true angel.’ I place a hand on her shoulder. ‘He is a lucky guy.’

‘I certainly am.’ Roger closes his books and looks at his girlfriend with almost heart eyes. ‘Are you ready to go, love?’

_Oh my God, he called her love. I’m going to cry. This is so soft._

‘Yes,’ she says, shoving her books in her backpack. She stands up and wraps her arms around me. Since she has to go to school again, she usually works here at Wednesdays and Saturdays and visits the cafe at Sundays. ‘Thank you for the cupcakes, Darcie.’

‘You’re welcome, sweetheart.’

Roger stands up and gives me a hug. I think Roger might be the sweetest seventeen year old in the world. ‘I’ll be here tomorrow, miss Angel,’ he tells me. ‘Promise.’

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

Roger gently pulls Ellie’s backpack from her hands and holds her hand. Raye opens the door for one of our favorite couples. ‘You bring her home safely,’ Raye says. ‘And you walk her all the way to her door.’

‘I will, miss Clarke.’

She pats his back and closes the door behind them. ‘They are the cutest,’ she says, turning the sign over from OPEN to CLOSE. ‘God, it’s so fucking unfair that even someone as annoying as Roger has a girlfriend. Really makes me wish I had someone.’

‘Your time will come,’ I say.

‘I’ve been meaning to ask this the entire day,’ Raye says, ‘but since you are so prude during work hours, I thought I’d wait until we were closed.’

‘This can’t be good,’ I mumble.

‘Did you have sex last night?’

‘Raye Clarke!’ I yell at her.

Jennie looks up from the sink. ‘Why are you asking her that?’ she asks curiously.

‘Because when John was sitting here, they kept exchanging glances and when he left and she gave him a kiss, it was a little more intense than usual.’

I feel a little bit exposed by this revelation of hers and because I’m not saying anything, Raye starts laughing. ‘I fucking knew it.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ I say.

‘Of course you don’t want to,’ she laughs. ‘But I do have another question.’

‘I don’t want to hear it.’

‘I mean, besides the obvious sexual tension between you two, there was something else.’ Raye crosses her arms in front of her chest. ‘What was that about? Can you explain?’

 _JOHN WANTS KIDS WITH ME_. I shake my head. ‘No, can’t explain that.’

Raye raises an eyebrow, but leaves it at that.

We continue to clean up the kitchen, the rest of the tables, but as usual, Raye sneakingly is checking her phone. ‘Oh my God,’ she all of the sudden says. She stares at her phone, her brows furrowed together. Before I can tell her that she needs to put that phone away, so she can clean up as well, she says: ‘Your father apparently did an interview five hours ago. Talking about how they would, though Pete is a free man now, will seek justice and put him away for life.’

‘How is your dad by the way?’ Jennie asks.

‘He was supposed to cocoon with my mother, but turns out he is really seeking for revenge,’ I mumble. ‘I haven’t spoken to him today.’

‘Still can’t believe he got away with it,’ Raye says. ‘He is such a psychopath.’

Jennie sighs deeply. ‘Poor girl didn’t deserve to die like that and she certainly doesn’t deserve her murderer getting away with it. Fucking lunatic.’

Raye puts her phone away and says: ‘I’ve got to go,’ she says. ‘I have a friends with benefits appointment.’

I raise an eyebrow. ‘You still do that?’

‘Like every month,’ she explains. ‘But only when he’s not seeing other girls.’

Jennie scrunches her nose, thinking about Raye’s friends with benefits. ‘What was his name again?’

‘Logan,’ she answers. ‘I haven’t had sex in four weeks and I really need to get laid.’

‘Your toys not good enough?’ Jennie asks.

She sighs. ‘No, my favorite one broke and my hand isn’t good enough.’

‘Use your shower head,’ I say, without even thinking. My cheeks fire up and I place my hand in front of my mouth. Can’t believe I just let that slip.

Raye lets out a high pitched squeak. ‘Oh my God, how do you even know about that? Did you watch porn? Did our sweet little Darcie watch porn? Never pecked you for that.’

‘No, it’s… God, I was sixteen, still living at home and too scared to buy myself a toy. I read something about that online, so I tried it.’

‘Oh my God,’ Jennie laughs. ‘This is hilarious.’

‘Don’t talk about it. Raye, fucking go and have sex with Logan and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Raye kisses us both on our cheeks and while still cackling with laughter, she exits the cafe.

‘You can go home as well,’ I say to Jennie. ‘I just need to check the register and some paperwork and then I’m off anyway.’

‘Are you sure?’ she asks.

‘Yeah, I’m sure. You worked hard today, so you go home. I insist.’

‘Well, that means I can finally catch up with my series.’ She gives me a hug and says: ‘Say hi to John from me when he picks you up.’

‘Will do.’

After Jennie left the cafe, I’m checking the register and read some of the paperwork. It’s been about an hour since my friends left, when John calls me. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says when I pick up, ‘I’m stuck in traffic, on a Sunday of all days, but I’ll try to be there as soon as possible.’

‘Don’t rush, please. I would like to see you in preferably one piece.’

‘I’d like to be in one piece as well,’ he mentions. ‘I didn’t bring the dogs with me. I took them out for a long walk after we left the cafe and they are pretty out.’

‘You take good care of them, honey,’ I say with a smile. ‘You really don’t need to rush. Have a ton of paper work to do anyways.’

‘I’ll help you,’ he says, ‘so please don’t stress about it, okay?’

Since I really don’t want to read through the pile of paper, I’m quick to say: ‘Okay, I’ll wait for you.’

I walk to the kitchen and clean up some bits that we’ve missed, while chatting to John about how my day was. We briefly mention Pete Stanford, but I don’t want to talk about that for too long.

‘So,’ John says, ‘call me a bit premature, but I looked up some baby names today.’

‘Oh my God, you’re so adorable,’ I chuckle, feeling my heart flutter. ‘Did you see any names you liked?’

‘I did see one name that I really liked. Livia, for a girl.’

‘Livia Wick,’ I say, ‘I like the sound of that.’

‘You like that?’

‘Mister John Wick, I really like how you are thinking about baby names. But please know that we’re not having a kid tomorrow.’

‘No, sweetheart, I understand. I just couldn’t help myself.’ He laughs. ‘Let me ask a question that is a little bit more urgent: would you like pizza for dinner or the left over pancakes?’

‘Left over pancakes,’ I say, ‘but this time I want chocolate chips in mine.’ I hear the door open and say: ‘Oh, you’re here early. Thought you were stuck in traffic, sweetheart.’

‘Darcie, I’m still stuck in traffic.’

I roll my eyes. If it is that stuck up old man again, who demanded Raye would give him her number, I’m gonna strangle him. I walk to the front. ‘I’m sorry, we’re closed,’ I say.

‘There she is.’

My soul nearly leaves my body. What the hell is Pete Stanford doing in my cafe? ‘Maybe you didn’t read the sign, but we are closed.’

‘Just wanting to check in with you.’

That can’t be good. ‘We don’t know each other.’

‘You really think that, Darcie?’

I hear John’s voice through my phone, but I’m too scared to bring the phone to my ear.I’m too scared to move anyways. He knows my name. Pete fucking Stanford knows my name. _Please, John, be here soon_. ‘Well,’ I utter, ‘I know you from the television, but I wouldn’t know how you’d know me.’

‘Well, I knew that Christian Angel had a daughter,’ Pete Stanford says. ‘A few Google searches… It didn’t take me very long before to know that his daughter has such a lovely cafe.’

‘What do you want from me?’ I ask him. _Please, Darcie, do not fucking faint. John will be here any second_. ‘I mean, you won your case, you’re a free man now. Why bother coming to my cafe?’

‘Because your dad ruined my life.’ Pete Stanford looks at me with his piercing blue eyes. He still looks rough, probably didn’t waste a second to go on his little scavenger hunt.

The door opens and four other guys step in, one even bigger than the other.

‘Okay,’ I say, my voice shaking, ‘but what do I have to do with that?’

Pete Stanford laughs. ‘Well, I’m going to get my revenge and it doesn’t take a genius to know what Christian Angels biggest fear is. Something happening to his lovely wife and his beautiful daughter.’

‘No, no, no, no,’ I say, ‘please, you need to leave my parents alone.’

‘I won’t, because I already took your parents and I’m going to let them both watch how their precious daughter will be ripped up in pieces,’ Pete says. He starts to dig through his pocket and shows me a pendant. ‘Does this look familiar?’

Oh my God, that is my mothers. My father gave it to her three years ago and I remember nearly vomiting in my mouth because of how romantic it was and how jealous I was, because Eric never bought me anything remotely nice. ‘What is happening?’ I ask.

One guy takes a step closer and Pete says: ‘Don’t resist too much, Darcie. We don’t want to hurt you just yet.’

I run inside the kitchen, but the guy is too strong and his arms are wrapped up around my body, dragging me to the exit. ‘Let go of me,’ I scream and I try to kick the man. Somehow I manage to kick him on the knee and it must’ve been a weak spot of his, because he growls in pain.

But I also managed to anger him even more. He throws me against the wall and by the time I hit the floor, I’m out.


	5. Chapter 5

This wasn’t supposed to happen, John thinks to himself. He picks up Darcie’s phone from the cafe floor, the screen cracked. The screen lights up and he stares at her background for brief moment.

He remembered when this picture was taken. They were in Central Park and she had wrapped her arm around his broad shoulder. She wanted to make a picture of them, but when she was about to make a picture, he kissed her cheek, causing a fit of giggles.

He looks at her bright smile. She can’t be gone. Darcie is the love of his life and he has yet to propose to her. He can’t lose her before he tells her about his true feelings. They were talking about having kids earlier today, damn it. She liked the name Livia. Livia Wick. John wanted to ask Darcie if she had a middle name, so maybe they could pass that on. He never asked and now he might never know. This all can’t be taken away from him.

From what he heard over the phone, Pete Stanford and some other guys were going after revenge. That included every person that meant something to Christian and his wife and daughter are indeed the most important in his life.

John walks out of the cafe, locks the door behind him and rushes to his car. While he drives off to his next address, he somehow managed to call both Raye and Jennie at the same time.

‘Mister Mustang, you better have some important to tell me, because I’m about to have hot and steamy sex.’

‘Darcie and her parents have been kidnapped by that idiot Pete Stanford and some of his friends.’

‘Holy shit, what?’ Jennie exclaims.

John quickly tells the girls what happened. ‘Now I need one of you in our apartment, to watch the dogs, since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.’

‘What are you going to do?’ Jennie asks.

‘That’s the dumbest question one could ask, Jen. What do you think? He is going to get his girl back and save her family. He wants to marry her, so he is not letting that son of a bitch get in the way of that. Okay, I’m getting dressed. Jennie, I’ll pick you up. We’re staying at their apartment together.’

‘Are we going to see you there, John?’ Jennie asks.

‘No,’ he says. ‘Give the dogs a kiss from me.’

And then he hangs up.

⟢⟡⟣

John went to Aurelio’s place, since he can’t waste time driving to his place in Mill Neck. When he parks his car in front of the chop shop, the guys that work there, all send him a look. John hasn’t seen Aurelio in years and normally he wouldn’t just burst into his chop shop like that, but he doesn’t care really. He has no time to waste.

‘John?’ Aurelio asks, looking up from a car. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

‘I need some guns.’

Aurelio frowns. ‘Thought you were out.’

‘I am,’ John says. ‘But my girlfriend is missing.’

Every guy at the chop shop stops working. Everyone knows that John got out again for Darcie Angel.

‘The lady from the cafe?’ Aurelio asks with a raised eyebrow. ‘She’s missing?’

‘I need some stuff.’

Aurelio ushers John with him, tells the other guys they need to go back to work again and they walk to his office. ‘What happened?’

‘Darcie and her parents are missing. They were taken by Pete Stanford.’

‘Pete Stanford?’ He sighs deeply, as he opens his own safe. ‘That lunatic that killed that his girlfriend and dumped her in Central Park?’

‘Long story,’ John says, getting himself a bulletproof vest and checking the guns that Aurelio has. ‘Sorry to bother you.’

‘No, man, I understand. I mean, you got out again for someone really special, I believe.’ Aurelio’s phone rings and he picks up. ‘Uhu… Yeah… Right… I’ll tell him.’

‘Let me guess,’ John mumbles. ‘Winston.’

‘I have to tell you a few things. One, whatever you do now, won’t have consequences. Pete Stanford and his men are not associated with the Continental and all.’

Even if they were, John would kill them and do whatever it takes to get out for the third time.

‘Two, your girlfriend is in the warehouse behind the Red Circle.’

For a second Iosev Tarasov flashes through his mind when hearing the words _the Red Circle_ , but that was then. That was the past.

‘Right.’

‘And last thing.’ Aurelio fishes out a card. ‘You’ll need this.’

John takes it and rushes out of the shop, to get in his car, with the ammunition he needs. He starts his car and with squealing tires he rushes to the warehouse.

What if he’s too late, he keeps thinking to himself. What if he’s not on time? What if his newly found family dies?

John was really nervous to meet her family. He had seen their faces around Times Square and he knew a thing or two about them and a quick search on the internet told him that they were one of the best attorneys of the east coast. The fact that they were only about ten years older than he was, made him even more anxious. What if they didn’t allow Darcie to date him? What if they thought he was bad news for her?

Growing up, he always wanted a family. He found that when he met Helen, but that got torn away from him. When he met Darcie, he had more than just her. He gained two friends Jennie and Raye, he fell in love with Tiki and Oreo and he was welcomed with open arms by both of her parents. He finally thought that he could experience that feeling of having a family. People that you spend time with during the holidays. People that you buy a present for, just because you saw something you thought they’d like.

And fuck, he keeps thinking about their talk earlier this morning. Darcie, his Darcie, told him about her daydreams and wishes, despite her tendency to not share those sorts of feelings.

He sort of parks his car, but he takes a deep breath. It has been some time since he did this and he feels a painful throb in his leg, but he needs to focus. Though this is about Darcie, though a lot is at stake here, he can’t lose his focus now. He needs to be calm, like he used to be.

John sighs and takes out his phone. He looks at his background, a picture of Darcie, while they were out for dinner at this beach house, the first picture he posted of her on his Instagram account.

He unlocks his phone and as a habit, he wants to click on the video he has of him and Helen, but he doesn’t do that now, though it brought him much in the past. He clicks on the short video he has of Darcie.

‘And though I love you very much,’ her voice fills the car, ‘I really think you need to Darcie proof your car. If I forget a jacket or my pillows, I can’t see the road.’ She sits up straight in his car, her chest nearly against the wheel. ‘Maybe we should buy another car, one that’s tiny. Not everyone has gorgeous long legs like you, John and not— Oh my God, why are you filming me?’ She reaches out to smack the phone out of his hand, followed by her laughter.

_He can’t lose her._


	6. Chapter 6

Why is my back hurting like hell? I’m flat on my stomach, but manage to push myself up. When I open my eyes, I don’t recognize my surroundings.

Where am I anyways? What happened? But I don’t have to think about for a long time, before I remember exactly what happened.

Pete Stanford took me. When I look around me, I don’t see anyone else. My hands are tied together with zip ties and they cut in my skin. I stand up, but since my legs are wobbly, I slam against the concrete wall with my shoulder as I lose my balance.

John must be so worried, I think to myself. I can’t imagine what the cafe looked like when he finally arrived. _He was too late_. Or I didn’t stall long enough.

Oh my God, if John doesn’t find me, I know my parents and I are going to die today. We all know that Pete Stanford murdered Whitney Bell. We all know that he mutilated her body, dumping her out in the open. Everyone who kept track of this case knows that.

And now my parents and I are probably next.

If he didn’t kill my parents already.

There is no way I can escape, I realize, looking around me. There are no windows in the tiny room where I woke up. Only a door, that I can’t look from the inside. The small light bulb on the ceiling that make it a little bit more clear that I really can’t escape.

I try to wiggle my wrists out of the zip ties, but obviously the battle me vs zip ties is a battle that I’m destined to lose. I wish John was here to help me. I just wish that John was here, so he could wrap his arms around me and tell me that I’m okay. I just wish that I could give Tiki and Oreo one last kiss. I so desperately want Raye to make fun of me and Jennie to hug me.

I hear a scream and I think that it’s my mom. Oh my God, my parents. What are they doing to her?

A door opens and I look into the eyes of the man who threw me against the wall. He walks up to me and grabs me by my hair. I wince when he harshly tugs the strands. He takes larger steps than me, so I practically have to run to keep up with him. The man throws me on the floor and I manage to break my fall on the hard floor.

I see my mom, her hands tied in front of her and her face blotched with red spots and my father with a piece of ducttape over his mouth, his arms tied against a pipe above his head. ‘Mom? Dad?’ I manage to choke out. I want to push myself up, but I feel a foot on my back, preventing me from breathing practically.

‘Princess,’ Pete Stanford says, ‘did you know that your dad ruined my life?’

‘No,’ I say, thinking that he wants me to talk to me. It somehow helped a bit in the cafe, so I figure it will help now. And maybe I can stall the moment of my murder and hopefully give John a little bit more time to find me.

If he manages to find me of course.

‘Well,’ he says, releasing his foot off my back and he gently pulls me up my shoulder. He almost seems like he cares, but when he shows me the knife, slowly grazing my jaw, I remember all too well what kind of man he is. ‘Did you see that interview today?’

I shake my head. ‘I was working all day.’

Pete brings his face way too close to mine. I can smell the liquor he has had, but I don’t turn my face away. I don’t want to upset him even more.

‘What was it about?’ I ask. ‘What did he say?’

‘About how I should be put away for life and he’ll make sure I’ll be behind bars forever.’

I have watched enough Investigation ID during my true crime fascination in college, to know that the last thing I need to do right now is to make him even angrier. He already hates my dad’s guts, I don’t think he is such a great fan of my mom, since she’s a lawyer too, but I’m not part of that world. I simply own a cafe.

I’m just a girl whose boyfriend was a former assassin and is currently praying that he will find her.

‘But,’ I say, swallowing hard, hoping he can’t see through my nerves, ‘you’re a free man. You were innocent according to the jury.’

Pete chuckles. ‘Right,’ he says. ‘You’re the only one who understands. Maybe you should’ve gone to law school.’

The knife is still dangerously close near my throat. ‘Wasn’t smart enough for that,’ I quietly say, trying so hard not to make eye contact with my parents, because I know once I’ll see them, I’ll do something stupid.

‘But I listened well to what you said. You said that I was innocent according to the jury. Do you want to know how I murdered her?’

Oh dear Lord, please no! ‘Who?’

‘Whitney.’ He lifts his shoulders in disbelieve, like he can’t believe I asked that question. ‘Because I did it.’

‘Oh.’

‘And I really want to tell you and you know why?’

I shake my head.

‘Because for one, you’re the only one of this family that I somehow can’t despise.’ _I think that is a good thing?_ ‘And I’m going to do the exact same things to you, while your parents watch,’—he wraps his hand around my throat, slightly squeezing, blocking the blood flow to my brain a little—‘how I kill their daughter.’

I’ve been acting “strong” for too long, because I start to cry. ‘No, please, I don’t want to die. I just want to go home.’

Pete opens his mouth to tell me something, but I hear deafening gunshots that echo in the empty space. I duck down, trying to cover my head with my arms, while I let out a scream. I look through my arms, to see my parents, my mom seeking cover and my dad closing his eyes. The men that took me from the cafe pull their gun, but before they can fire, they drop to the floor.

Pete pulls me up and wraps his arm around my neck, holding me up as a shield. I stand on my toes, while I hold his forearm with my hands. Tears are streaming down my eyes, but between the tears, I see a blurry image of my boyfriend.

 _John found me_. He points his gun to us. ‘Let her go,’ John says in a low and dangerous voice.

Pete pulls out his knife and holds it near my face.

A cry leaves my lips, as I start to feel lightheaded. To make things even worse, he puts more pressure on my throat. My legs grow tired of standing on my toes, trying to keep my balance.

‘Let her go,’ John says again.

Pete hides himself behind me. I believed John when he said that he was quite legendary back in the day, but I know that even the best assassin can’t make that shot. ‘And why on earth would I do that?’

Seconds pass where John doesn’t say anything. His eyes are focussed on me. Everything that we’ve been through, I see it all passing by. His shy chuckle, where he would bring his hand to his mouth to cover it up. His warm embraces, when I need them when I’m sad, extra happy to see him or just really stressing out over work and all the paperwork. His smile when he catches my eye when I’m working.

The conversations he has with the high school kids, inviting them over to sit at his table. His love for Tiki and Oreo, how he tucks them underneath a blanket when they are sleeping. How he holds stuff above his head, so I can’t reach them when I really need it. How he always opens the door for me, no matter which one. He still takes off his jacket when I need to get out of the car and wear a short skirt or dress.

God, all the things he did for me… He did find me, but what if he can’t save me? Well, at least he can save my parents.

John points his gun to a point above us. When he shoots, I yelp of the loud sound. Pete starts to laugh. ‘I’m impressed,’ he tells him in a sarcastic tone.

I hear something, but I can’t really place it. But before I know it, I’m being pushed forward with such a force. Pete releases his grip on me and I topple over the floor. I open my eyes, to see Pete laying on the floor, but I see a flash in front of my eyes and hear a loud gunshot. I let out a scream when I see that Pete is bleeding from his forehead, but I feel two strong and familiar hands on my arms.

‘Darcie,’ John says in such a soft voice, that it’s hard to believe that he just killed a couple of guys, ‘I’m here. Don’t look at that.’ He pulls me up and engulfs me in his arms. His fingers go through my hair and then I let it all out. ‘I’ve got you, sweetheart,’ he whispers in my ear.

‘I thought I was gonna die,’ I mumble against his neck, his hard bullet proof vest not giving me access to his soft shirt.

‘Not on my watch,’ he says, kissing my wet cheek. He holds onto my face and gives me a long kiss on my lips. ‘God, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you, baby.’

John lets go of me and pulls out a knife. He frees my wrists from the restraints and kisses them tenderly. He stands up to help my parents, but he holds out his hand for me to take. Since I don’t want to leave his side anymore, knowing that I’m the safest when I’m with him, I eagerly hold onto his hand and walk behind him. I stare at a long wooden beam that is still attached to the ceiling, but cracks every time it swings a bit. That must’ve been what John shot at, that must’ve been what launched both me and Pete to the front.

John cuts through the zip ties and when he checks out my moms wrist, he says: ‘We should get that checked.’

He stands up and pulls out a card. He brings his phone to his ear, but then he wraps an arm around my frame. I close my eyes, while I hear him say: ‘This is Wick. I’d like to make a dinner reservation for six on behave of the Continental.’


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't post a lot on here, but I decided to update on here again! I have tons to update, so be on the look out!

John, Christian and Darcie are waiting in the waiting room, until Somi’s wrist is taken care of. It looked like it was broken, so she probably will have to wear a cast. The four of them haven’t spoken to each other since John called for dinner reservations. Darcie held onto his hand in the car the entire and now she has placed her head on his shoulder.

A nurse walks into the waiting room and asks: ‘Somi Angel?’ The three of them stand up and she smiles. ‘She is done.’ They walk behind the nurse, who tells them that the damage is not too much, but they need to wait until her painkillers work, before Somi can be released, but that should take about forty five minutes.

When they enter the room, John stays in the doorway, watching how Darcie and Christian walk up to Somi. The fact that nothing really bad happened to any of them, sure eases his mind, but what if something terrible happened to them? To Darcie? He was just in time.

‘Mom, how are you feeling?’ Darcie asks her mother.

‘A bit in pain still,’ Somi answers, smiling at her daughter. ‘I think I’m too old to be thrown around like that.’ She looks at John and ushers him over. ‘Close the door and come over here, John.’

Somi doesn’t sound like she is mad at him, while Christian can’t even look at him. He walks up to the bed and places his hand on the small of Darcie’s back.

‘I want to say thank you,’ Somi says. ‘You saved our lives. What you did back there… You saved my daughter and that is the most important thing that matters to me.’

‘But,’ Christian says, ‘we have to talk about this.’

‘I know,’ John says. They deserve to know, he knows that. Darcie is aware of his past, Raye and Jennie are. But now his in-laws too? He doesn’t want to be reminded of that life anymore. However they saw him doing what he did.

‘I get that you want to protect Darcie,’ her father continues, ‘and I totally agree with it and I thank you for it, but it the way you did it, that surprises me. Your dinner reservations surprised me.’

John takes a deep breath, but Darcie says to him: ‘You don’t need to tell them now. Whenever you are comfortable.’

‘They need to know, Darcie.’

‘John, please, don’t feel pressured to tell them if you don’t want to.’

John sighs, but does tell them everything that he thinks is relevant. The beginnings, meeting Helen and how he got out for her. How he somehow rolled back into the business and when he met Darcie, he wanted to get out for her. ‘I had to tell her eventually,’ John says, finally looking up from the side of the bed. Though Darcie figured it out on her own, he’d rather not tell them. ‘She was mad at first, but when I had to do that final job to get out and got shot in the process, she came to me. I know that she is way too good for me, but I’m trying to be the best for her I can. I’m adapting to a normal life, a life that I always wanted.’

‘But how do we as her parents know that she’s safe?’ Christian asks. ‘I mean, I know you love her, but you have a past, a reputation.’

‘I’m out,’ he says quickly, ‘officially out and what I did here today, it has no consequences for our future. I’ll keep her safe, I promise.’ He looks at Darcie, who is already looking at him with a soft and proud smile on her face. ‘Forever,’ he whispers to her.

It’s really quiet in the room, until her mother says: ‘Well, at least you’re no Pete Stanford.

‘Somi!’ Christian hisses to his wife. ‘I can’t believe you said that.’

‘It’s true. Had we not known about his past, you would still be raving about him to our colleagues. You heard the man, he got out once before, got married and loved his first wife. Now he got out for our daughter and did not only save her life, but ours as well.’

John doesn’t listen to her parents anymore. He just looks at his girlfriend. He can’t believe someone laid his hands on her, on his precious Darcie. He holds her hand and kisses her bruised wrists.

‘I’m proud of you,’ she whispers. ‘You could’ve said nothing or lied.’

‘I can’t do that,’ John says. ‘Not to family.’

⟢⟡⟣

The drive home is pretty quiet. They dropped her parents off at their own house. They are are already figuring out a better security system for their house and Darcie said that she was thinking about changing all the locks for the cafe.

‘I love you,’ John whispers, when he places his hand on her leg.

‘I love you too,’ she says. ‘Thank you so much for saving me and my family.’

‘Darcie, I would do anything for you, your friends and your family. You are the love of my life.’

She leans back in the seat and a sad chuckle leaves her lips. ‘You’re my hero, John.’

His cheeks burn. ‘I wouldn’t call myself a hero.’

‘You are,’ she whispers. ‘You’ll forever be my hero. I don’t know how to thank you.’

‘I do,’ he says. ‘I didn’t want to say it in the hospital, but you are going to lock the door the _second_ the cafe closes and when I want to come in, I’ll unlock it myself. You nor your friends are ever going to be alone in that cafe anymore.’ 

Darcie places her hand on his, her fingers drawing circles on his skin. ‘I can live with that.’

He parks the car in the parking lot underneath her building, but they don’t get out right away. ‘I texted Raye and Jennie,’ he says, ‘they’ll be expecting us.’

She nods. ‘John,’ Darcie says, ‘I know you’re beating yourself up. There is no need for that.’

John really wants to fight it, to fight the tears and wanting to be strong for her and not look weak in front of her, but a sob leaves his lips and he places his head on the steering wheel.

‘Oh no, sweetie,’ she says, reaching out to him to pull him close to her body. ‘John, it’s okay, there is no need to cry.’

He buries his face in her neck and presses a kiss, before taking in her scent. God, he missed her. ‘I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was too late. What if I was too late and… And I’d lost you forever? There are so many things we haven’t done together. There are so many things that we don’t know about each other yet.’

‘Then we’ll make sure we’ll get to know each other on a deeper level,’ she whispers. ‘Then I’ll make time to spend more time with you, to do more fun stuff together.’

John nods, but pulls back and clears his throat. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t cry. I should be strong for you.’

She shakes her head. ‘No, I’m happy that you trust me enough to show your true feelings.’

He roughly rubs his eyes, but she stops him. ‘Be gentle,’ she whispers, her delicate fingers brushing away his tears. Darcie has a tight smile on her face. ‘Come on, let’s go inside.’

John tells her to stay put and when he walks around the car, he dries his eyes a little more, before he opens her door. She winces a bit when getting out. ‘What’s wrong, baby? Are you okay?’ he asks, willing to drive back to the hospital for a check up.

She shakes her head. ‘Just my muscles. They feel a bit sore.’

They hold hands when they wait for the elevator and she places her head against his shoulder, tired from the night. It’s around three in the morning and John knows by know that she is not a night person.

When they step in and he presses the right button, Darcie asks: ‘John, are we really going to stay together forever?’

He frowns when he hears her question, but then he realizes she doesn’t know about his proposal. She doesn’t know that he plans on making her his wife, that he is going to be her husband. ‘We are,’ he answers. ‘I’m not killing a psychopath and his friends for everyone.’

Thankfully she can laugh about that. ‘Maybe we should talk more about the future,’ she suggests. ‘Because one day, we might run out of time.’

‘We won’t,’ he whispers. ‘Because this isn’t happening again and if so, I’ll be there. Nothing bad will happen to you ever again.’

‘I love you, John Wick.’

‘I love you too, Darcie,’— _don’t say Wick!_ —‘Angel.’

When the two of them arrive at the doorstep of her apartment, she inhales deeply. John opens the door for her and Jennie and Raye jump off the couch. They look like they haven’t been sleeping at all.

‘Oh my God, Darcie,’ Jennie says, tears streaming down her face. ‘John texted us when you were in the hospital. Are your parents okay?’

‘Just shaken up and mom has a broken wrist.’

Raye throws herself into the tight hug. ‘We’re never going to stay alone at the cafe, ever again.’

‘I won’t allow that,’ John says, petting the dogs, who sniff him from top to bottom.

‘God, I can’t believe that psycho took you and your family,’ Raye says. ‘I don’t know what I would’ve done if something really terrible happened to you.’

John nearly flinches at the idea. He kept thinking about the ‘what ifs’ but he forced himself not to think further than a what if. He doesn’t want to think about the moment where he would find Darcie dead. How he would attend her funeral. A life without her. He can’t and doesn’t want to even think about all of that.

When the girls let go of Darcie—that takes a while—Tiki jumps in her arms. He sees a flash of pain in her eyes, but she keeps quiet. She scratches the dogs, crouches next to them and lets them lick her face. ‘I missed you guys too,’ she says.

She wants to get up from the floor, but somehow she can’t push herself up.

‘Careful now, sweetheart,’ John quickly says, placing his hands underneath her arms, so he can help her up. ‘You want something to eat?’

Darcie simply nods and he presses a long kiss on top of her head. With Raye and Jennie she plops on the couch and John hears the entire story from the kitchen, while he prepares a sandwich for her.

The two of them listen intently and Raye says: ‘You’re taking the week off.’

‘What?’ Darcie asks. ‘No, I can’t take the week off.’

‘You can,’ Jennie says. ‘Something terrible happened to you. We won’t open the cafe later today, so we can process all of this. And tomorrow you stay home. Next week on Monday is the earliest you can start.’

Raye is trying to convince his workaholic girlfriend and Jennie stands up from the couch. She joins him in the kitchen and asks: ‘Are you okay, John?’

‘I’m fine,’ he mumbles.

She tilts her head. ‘I think I should say thank you, for not only saving my friend, but also her parents. They mean a lot to all of us.’

‘I would do it again and again,’ John says.

‘Listen,’ Jennie says, ‘you can’t beat yourself up about it, okay? You are a hero, John Wick.’

He simply sighs. ‘I keep thinking about how I could’ve been too late.’

‘And then you wouldn’t have proposed to her,’ she says in a hushed tone, so Raye and Darcie can’t hear her.

John nods. ‘Something like that.’

‘Are you going to do it soon?’

He looks at Darcie. Tiki jumped on her lap and Oreo has his head on her shoulder. ‘No,’ he states. ‘I mean, I really want to, but she needs to get better. She’s too weak now, psychically and mentally.’

Jennie looks at him. ‘I promise you,’ she whispers, ‘she’ll say yes.’


	8. Chapter 8

I’m just like my parents, I realize. I can’t _not_ work. I’m a workaholic. During the hours that I should be in the cafe, I have no clue what to do with my time. I’m fidgeting, preparing myself a cup of coffee, bake something and I really want to walk with the dog, but my body is insanely sore, it’s almost impossible to walk around the apartment.

But, despite me trying to get over my withdrawals, John has been nothing but an angel for me. He preps the bed for me, makes sure that it’s comfortable enough and when he scoots in, he wraps his strong arms around me, kissing me on my temple, before whispering that he’ll always protect me. He cooks dinner for me. He goes to the store to get me certain ingredients for my baking or to get me a simple soda, simply because I mumbled to myself that I would like one. He massages me when I complain about a sore neck. He draws me baths so I can relax, sometimes joining me in the tub, sometimes bringing me wine.

Every night when the cafe closes, he gets in his car, so he can close off with my friends. And he doesn’t complain at all.

Finally, when it’s Sunday, a whole week after it all happened, I feel a little better. Psychically, I mean. Mentally I’m still a bit on edge, but with John near me and our sweet dogs, I somehow relax a bit.

Tomorrow will be my first official day of work again and I’m really looking forward. Our regular customers are worried about me, but Raye and Jennie said that I was doing fine, just a bit sick.

We haven’t told anyone about what happened. It’s a secret between my parents, Jennie, Raye, John and I (and well, maybe a lot of people associated with the Continental, but John told me not to worry about that). I want to keep it that way. The news is trying to track down Pete Stanford, but those certain dinner reservations will make it impossible for anyone to find him.

Those men are thorough.

I just got out of another hot bath and I do my night time skin care routine, with a towel wrapped around my body. I know that John is in the guest room, where we placed a table for his bookbinding. I get myself ready for bed and decide to go find him.

This past week, our conversations have been very light. He would watch movies with me, where he’d point out a few things that bothered him. I would try to teach him how to make a decent cappuccino, but his milk frothing skills aren’t very promising.

John sits with his back to the door, but obviously he knows when I’m entering the room, because he says: ‘Hi sweetheart, how was your bath?’

‘Good. When you prepare them, I always enjoy it a little extra.’ I wrap my arms around him and whisper: ‘It looks good. You’re so talented.’

John was already finishing up, because he turns his face to kiss me. ‘Come here,’ he whispers. I sit on his lap, my face to his and he wraps his arms around my waist. ‘You know,’ he confesses, ‘I love you no matter what, but when you don’t wear make-up, my heart always skips a beat.’

‘Why is that?’

‘I don’t know,’ he laughs. ‘You just look extra squishy.’

‘Squishy?’ I repeat, before chuckling. ‘Never thought you would be a man that said squishy.’

‘I keep on surprising. Are you happy that you’re going to work again tomorrow?’

‘I am,’ I say. ‘I mean staying here for an entire week with you, was fantastic and well needed, but… I really need to make someone else a cappuccino or something.’

John smiles. ‘I know. How are you feeling overall?’

‘Sometimes my back hurts a little, but I was thrown against a wall at least one time. It still hurts when I carry something heavy, but I know that you’re staying at the cafe a lot more, so you probably won’t mind helping me out?’

He shakes his head. ‘Anything remotely heavy, I’ll carry it for you.’

‘What are you thinking about?’ I ask him, placing my hands on his bearded cheeks. ‘You look worried.’

‘The day you were taken,’ he says in a hushed tone, ‘you and I had a talk about the future. The entire day I was thinking about it, how you and I might have kids walking around here. How we talked about names.’

‘I know,’ I whisper. ‘But despite what happened, that idea is not off the table.’

‘I know, I know,’ he quickly says.

I can feel he gets uncomfortable and to be honest, I kind of understand. I feel like he is still beating himself up for crying in the car. He has seen me cry a billion times. I think I even cried when I saw Roger and Ellie for the first time together.

John has been my safe place, to spot where I can cry and that he won’t judge me. I know it was a huge step for him—as unwillingly as it may was—to cry in the car.

I carefully press my lips against him. ‘John,’ I whisper, ‘I love you so insanely much.’

‘I love you too, baby.’

‘I don’t want to let you go, like ever.’

He smiles against my lips. ‘I won’t let that happen.’ He lifts me up and carries me to our bedroom. It’s still a bit early, around eight p.m., but I’ve been feeling pretty tired and worn out. ‘You look in pain,’ he whispers, when he placed me on the bed. ‘Are you okay?’

For a few moments I’m mesmerized when he takes off his shirt and pants, to join me under the blankets. I stare at the scars on his chest, his cross tattoo on his shoulder. I have admired his back tattoo for so long, that I feel like I know it by heart now. ‘Just my back.’

John sits up and pats the spot between his legs. ‘I’ll take care of it. Come on, sit.’

I take place between his legs and his fingers press expertly in my muscles. Sure I enjoy it, but when he presses against a certain tight knot in my back, I wince in pain. ‘Sorry, sweetheart.’

Without meaning to, I let out a soft cry. I bury my face in my hands.

John simply wraps his strong arms around my shaking body. ‘Let it all out, Darcie,’ he tells me.

God knows how long I’ve been bottling up emotions. I mean, sure, I’ve cried in these past few days, but this…

When I sniffle and dry my tears, I ask: ‘Weren’t you worried that once you had saved me and my family, you’d have to go back, if the Continental didn’t give you that dinner reservations on behave of them?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I’d get out for you over and over again, because I can’t live without you.’

⟢⟡⟣

The next morning, Greg, Tina and Roger are way too happy to see me, that I almost think that they need a life outside of this cafe. They all hug me pretty tight and I can’t help but chuckle. ‘We missed you so much, miss Angel,’ Roger says.

‘I missed you guys too. Because you are such regulars and I wasn’t here last week, you’re getting your order on the house,’ I say with a smile.

‘You are the best, miss Angel.’ They all sit at the table near John, chatting away. I always like it when John talks to them. It gives me a vision of the future, how he is willing to sit down with his own kids, no matter how old they are to talk to them about life. While I’m preparing their orders, I feel this sharp pain in my back. Maybe I’ve been standing a little bit too long. Damn, I feel old.

‘Okay, baby, you need to take a break.’

‘John,’ I say, looking to the side. ‘You were talking to the Greg, Roger and Tina.’

‘I know, but I notice everything.’ He huffs, before laughing. ‘I’m your boyfriend, it’s my job to worry.’ John presses a kiss on my temple. ‘Please, take a break.’

‘I will, after I finish up. Raye will be right back and then I’ll sit at your table.’

‘I’ll carry it to their table,’ John says. ‘Please, you need to be careful.’ He places his large hand on the small of my back and I can’t help but smile. He has been so thoughtful for the past week and everything he does, he does without complaining, without thinking. It makes me feel so loved, so noticed.

I finish up the order and John carries it to their table. Raye arrives from the back, with a bucket full of new ice. ‘I’m taking a break, Raye, okay?’

‘Of course,’ she says. She looks over to the side, to see if anyone is listening and whispers: ‘Go sit with daddy.’

‘Yeah okay, bye,’ I say, but I can’t help but laugh. I grab my rose tea and walk to his table. I sit across from him. ‘So, what’s your plan for today?’ I ask him.

‘Well, first I’m going to accompany you during your break and then I’m going to walk the dogs. After that I finish up some books and I’m going to pick you up, obviously.’

‘You know, you’d think I’d be sick of you, after spending this much time with you,’ I joke, ‘but somehow I’m still counting down the minutes until I get to see you again.’

John smiles. ‘Me too.’

‘I have to ask this: aren’t you bored? I mean, your life was so action packed and last week you kind of went back and now you’re doing what you do. Sitting in my cafe and walking the dogs.’ I shrug, but to be honest, it has been keeping me quite busy. What if he misses it? What if I’m holding him back?

He holds out his hand and I place mine in his. ‘I don’t miss that life. At all. Having to go back for a brief moment, was necessary, but I don’t want to go back.’ John’s thumb caresses my fingers and he says: ‘I’m finally enjoying life again. I’m binding books, I can sit at your cafe every day and I walk our dogs.’ He brings my fingers to his lips. ‘And maybe one day, when we have kids, I can sit here with them after I picked them up from school. This can be their second home. We’d watch you working and they can see with their own eyes what a lovely and caring personality their mom has and how you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.’ John shakes his head and says: ‘Not for a second I miss my previous life. I’m so ready to start over with you. So don’t you worry about that for a second, okay?’

_That is so sweet._

‘You’re having a kid?’ Roger says, turning around.

‘Oh my God, miss Angel, are you pregnant?’ Greg butts in.

Tina smiles. ‘Is that why you weren’t here last week?’

‘No!’ I exclaim. ‘I’m not pregnant.’

‘Good,’ Roger says, ‘because my mom always says that it’s better if you get married first. Little old school, but since you both are old school, it fits.’

‘Are you calling me old?’ I ask. ‘I can still spit in your coffee, Roger.’

He chuckles. ‘No, you’re not old, miss Angel.’

Greg smiles at us. ‘Well, why were you talking about kids then?’

‘That’s what adults do,’ Tina says, rolling her eyes. ‘They think about the future. Miss Angel, I think it’s so romantic that you two are talking about kids. I bet they will be the cutest little kids ever.’

Why am I blushing?’

‘I totally agree with Tina,’ John says. ‘I mean, every kid is cute, but ours will be the cutest of course.’

‘If you have a boy, will you call him Roger?’

‘And be constantly reminded of you?’ I ask, cocking an eyebrow. ‘No way, knowing one Roger is already bad enough.’

‘Ouch,’ he say, placing his hand on his chest, before he laughs.

‘Are you going to have kids soon?’ Tina asks us.

John chuckles. ‘Well, I’m kind of an old fashion man, so before we’re having kids, I want to be get married to her.’

‘Really?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, totally.’

‘You should propose to her when the two of you are here,’ Greg suggests.

‘If you do that, John, I swear to God, I’ll say no.’

John starts to laugh and says: ‘No worries sweetheart, I won’t propose to you in the cafe.’

⟢⟡⟣

John already brought Tiki and Oreo home, because he took them out three times to walk them today. Despite that, he is still really worried about me. He doesn’t want me to clean the tables, because that can’t be good for my back, so I’m sitting on the counter, waiting for him to be done.

Raye is at Logan’s place, to have sex and Jennie also went home. She looked really tired and I think that’s because she couldn’t stop worrying about me. Poor Jennie.

‘John, I can help you,’ I say, but he simply shakes his head. ‘Why not?’

‘I’m almost done.’

‘We have to finish up the kitchen too.’

John looks up and says: ‘I know.’

‘I can already start.’

He shakes his head. ‘No, please, sweetheart. I’ve got it.’ He scrubs the last table, giving me full sight of his bottom. I remember when he hung up those posters in the cafe, before we started even dating and my flushed cheeks when I stared at his ass a little too long.

John walks up to me and stands between my legs. ‘What is it?’ he asks with an amused smile.

‘I thought about how you hung up those posters,’ I whisper. ‘I remember that when I got back home, I had such lovely dreams of you with a toolbox.’

John starts to laugh and I fall in love a bit more. I think everyday I fall in love with him more. How this man can have this effect on me, I still try to figure that out.

‘I remember you blushing because you were staring at my ass.’

My eyes grow wider. ‘What?’

‘And you said ‘just a little warm’, but you hadn’t noticed that I was checking you out in the reflection of the cafe windows.’

I bring my hands to my face. ‘That is so embarrassing, John. I thought I was being sneaky.’

‘Well, you weren’t,’ John says, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. ‘I felt really good about myself,’ he adds.

‘You idiot,’ I chuckle. I bring my lips to his, to give him a kiss, but then he scoots me up. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m going to clean the kitchen and you are going to sit there and watch.’ He presses multiple kisses on my cheek and places me on a clean part of the hard surface where Jennie always works.

We chatter a bit, about the most useless things. I like talking about useless things with John. In the beginning of us dating, I thought every conversation had to have a hidden meaning, or just be very Shakespearean. But then one day he mentions that he never understood why people like chai latte and we had an hour long conversation about chai lattes, that literally went no where.

I carefully lower myself to the floor. John literally hears everything, because while he is talking to me and with his back turned to me, but he looks over his shoulder. ‘Sweetheart, what are you doing?’

I walk towards him and stand on my toes, so I can fold my hands in the back of his neck. I pull him a bit forward, so I can kiss him. ‘I love you, John,’ I whisper. ‘Thank you for cleaning up.’

‘Sweetie, of course.’ He smiles. ‘Last week you said that I was looking at you with my bedroom eyes, but the same can be said about you now.’

 _God, I hate it when I blush like this_. Why do I have to blush about those things? I’m thirty one for crying out loud and John and I have been dating for a year and a half. This shouldn’t make me shy.

John pushes up my knitted sweater and the tank top I’m wearing underneath and he places his warm hands on my bare skin. The entire week he has been being really careful, even when it came to sex. He didn’t want to hurt me and whenever he saw my wrists (that are healing, thank God) he’d stop.

But I missed him so much.

‘Well,’ I whisper, ‘are you going to wait until we’re home?’

Though our sex life is pretty vanilla, it begins to spice up every now and then. I somehow manage to be a little bit louder, though it’s still hard for me to do sometimes. But sex at the cafe?

I have never done that, but looking at John right now, it makes it really difficult not to undress completely.

John chuckles, while his eyes turn a shade darker. ‘No,’ he whispers. He unbuttons my pants and pulls it down with my underwear, as he crouches down in front of me. He kisses my inner thigh, softly sucking on the tender skin, his tongue tracing the stretch marks I have there.

My fingers are tangled in his long locks and his beard scratches the sensitive skin. When he’s near my aching center, I feel his wet fingertip between my lips. ‘God, baby,’ he whispers, ‘so wet already.’

He pushes one in, earning him a stiffened moan from me. He places his mouth over my clit, before he sucks on the sensitive bud. He pushes in another one and I take a fistful of his hair.

John stands up and while him kissing me, he keeps on fingering me. Rougher than usually. ‘Come on, sweetheart,’ he says, ‘tell me how you feel.’

‘But what if anyone hears?’ I ask in a tiny voice.

‘No one will hear,’ he tells me. ‘We locked the door, no one can hear or see us in here.’ He places his other hand in the back of my neck and whispers: ‘Please.’

His fingers brush against a sensitive spot, but when he pushes in a third finger, I moan out against his lips. ‘Shit, John.’

‘That’s it,’ he says.

I’m nearing my orgasm, but before I can even tell John, he pulls out his fingers. ‘No, John,’ I whine. ‘Why would you do that?’

‘Open your mouth,’ he tells me. He brings his fingers covered in my juices to my lips and I hold onto his wrist as I suck his long and thick fingers clean. ‘You look really good doing this,’ he admits.

He pulls his fingers out of my mouth and kisses me so deeply, that I’m almost out of breath by the time he lets go of me. Without telling me anything, he turns me around and bends me over the cold table. I hear him unwrapping a condom and when I look over my shoulder, as I see him rolling it on.

John smiles at me. ‘I love you, Darcie.’ I feel his tip near my cunt and I let out a moan when he slowly sinks in. My walls stretch around him and I place my head on the table.

‘John, please, harder,’ I beg, clenching my hands into fists.

‘Only if you promise me to let me know how you feel, baby.’

I nod. ‘Okay.’

John holds onto my hips and slams inside of me. I moan out and he starts to pick up the speed with his thrusts. I bite my lip, another moan desperate to escape from my mouth. ‘Darcie, remember what you’d promise me.’

‘Fuck, John, you’re so big.’

‘That’s my girl,’ he says, squeezing my hips.

Every time he slides inside, my hipbones slamming against the table. My legs are quivering and I let out a sob. ‘John, I’m close.’

‘I know you are, good thing I am too.’

I can’t keep quiet anymore, as my orgasm washes over me. ‘You feel so fucking tight around me,’ John grunts, before his thrusts are getting sloppy. As he rides out his high, I somehow manage to catch my breath. I feel his chest pressed against my back as he pulls me up and he leaves wet kisses in my neck.

John pulls out of me and throws the condom in the trash. I hear him zip up his pants, before he hoists up mine, helping me to get decent again. I button up my pants and John turns me around, a smile evident on his beautiful face.

‘I can’t believe we had sex here,’ I say with pink blushes on my cheeks.

‘Me neither,’ John laughs. ‘Never knew you were into the whole public thing.’

‘Shut up.’

He lifts me on the table and gives me a sweet peck. ‘Did I hurt you?’

I shake my head. ‘No, not at all. I have to tell you one thing, though.’

‘Okay?’

‘You need to take out that thrash bag, because I don’t want anyone to see a used condom in the bottom of the bin. If Raye finds that, she’ll haunt me with that until we are retired and maybe even longer.’


	9. Chapter 9

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays, but this year it’s extra special. Last year it was just John, Tiki and me, since there was a huge blizzard and couldn’t get out. Now I’m here with the most important people of my life: my mom, dad, Jennie and Raye. Oreo and Tiki are asleep literally underneath the decorated tree.

I place my head against John’s shoulder as we watch Raye unpack her final gift. ‘No way, you guys,’ she says, as she unpacks the Prada shoes she has been eyeing for so long now. Every time we walked passed the store and she saw them, she’d tell us how much she loved those shoes. ‘I can’t believe you bought those for me.’

‘Well, if I had to hear one more time that you wanted them, but couldn’t afford them, I had to hit you, so yeah,’ I say, ‘it’s for my own sanity really.’

Raye sticks out her tongue. ‘You guys are the best. Thank you so much. I think I might wear those to my next date.’

‘And if you get dumped, at least you’re wearing cute shoes,’ Jennie says, something that earns her a painful pinch in her arm.

Since Jennie lost her parents not too long ago, she has been depending on mine for certain things and spending Christmas with my parents is one of those things. Sometimes she calls my mom, when she needs some female advice. It has become such a new normal in our life. She can’t really count on Raye’s parents, since Raye can’t even count on them.

Apparently, her brothers fiancé turned out to be a bitch and the wedding is off. Raye was kind of delighted, to see Alex so heartbroken and to be fair, I hated the fact that I couldn’t be there to witness it myself.

‘It’s such a shame that there are no more gifts left,’ Raye mentions.

‘You just got Prada shoes,’ Jennie says. ‘How ungrateful are you?’

‘Well,’ John says, before they can start to have a discussion, ‘there is one more gift left.’

‘Really?’ my mom asks. ‘It’s for me, isn’t it? Since I’m the best mother in law a guy could possibly ask for.’

He snorts. ‘No, I’m sorry, Somi. This gift is for my lovely Darcie,’ John says, looking over to me with a smile on his face. He is long overdue for a haircut, but now that his hair is basically shoulder length… God, I’ve been having certain dreams about it. Things that I shouldn’t be thinking about when there are other people around.

‘Oh, what did you get me?’ I ask him, turning a bit to the side, so I can have a better look at him.

‘Well,’—he clears his throat and holds onto my hand—‘Darcie, I can’t believe that we’ve been together for almost a year and a half. It seems longer and not in a _time never passes with you, because you are so boring-_ way, but more in a _I feel like I’ve known you forever_ -way.’

I chuckle, squeezing his hand, when I see that he needs a little bit more encouragement to continue.

‘Every day when I wake up, I prize myself so insanely lucky that you are my girlfriend. The way you run your cafe with so much passion and how you make your cafe a safe haven. The way I somehow persuade you to love me and get another dog. The way we are slowly talking more about our future, without freaking out. How you took care of me when I had injured my leg. Everything you do and say, makes me love you even more.’ He brings my hand to his lips, to press a soft and tender kiss on my knuckles. ‘When that idiot took you, I thought that was it. I thought that I had lost you, like I lost everything before. We were supposed to have a future together and thinking about how that might be taken away from me…’ John sighs.

It surprises me that he is so open, especially with everyone around us. I feel the tears burning in my eyes and I clear my throat to prevent myself from crying. My fingers run through his raven locks.

‘Darcie,’ he continues, ‘I really love you so insanely much and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend my life with than you. I love having you as my girlfriend, but I think it needs an upgrade.’

For some reason Raye squeals and I glance at her, unsure of what is happening. When I look back at John, I see he has a red velvety looking box in his hand and he is sitting down on one knee. My eyes widen, while I bring my hands to my mouth. ‘What are you doing?’ I ask him.

‘My sweet Darcie, will you marry me?’ He opens up the the velvet box, only to reveal such a beautiful ring.

Tears drip down my cheeks, as a sob leaves my lips. _He is genuinely proposing to me?_ ‘Why do you want to marry me?’ I ask in disbelieve.

John frowns, before he lets out a nervous laugh. ‘Didn’t you hear my speech, baby?’

‘I did, but… But what if I suck at being a fiancée or a wife? I thought I was getting the girlfriend part finally under control. John, you are such an amazing man and I… I feel like I—’

‘No, baby,’ he interrupts me, placing a hand on my cheek, ‘you’ll do just fine. I promise.’

‘Oh my God, Darcie, don’t leave the man hanging,’ Raye intervenes and I wonder how long she’s been holding in her excitement.

I look over to John and smile. ‘Yes, John, I want to marry you.’

He lets out a sigh of relief, like he wasn’t expecting me to say yes. He takes out the ring and holds out his hand. I place mine in his and he slides on the ring on my finger.

I stare down at the diamond and a nervous laugh leaves my lips. ‘I’m engaged,’ I whisper.

‘Yes, you are.’ John sits on the floor and pulls me in his arms. His warm lips against mine. I place my hands on the sides of his face, never wanting to let go. I’m going to marry this man. I’m going to be—

‘Holy shit,’ I say, pulling back. ‘I’m going to be Mrs. Wick.’

‘I know!’ Raye shouts, jumping up to launch herself in my arms. I tumble over, starting to laugh as she says: ‘You’re engaged!’

‘I know, isn’t this crazy?’

Jennie pushes Raye off of me, to give me a long hug. ‘I’m so happy for you, Darcie. You deserve this so much.’ She takes a good look at the ring and says: ‘He has taste.’

‘He sure does.’

‘Mister Mustang, you are an engaged man,’ Raye yells, jumping in John’s arms. He chuckles, patting her back as she hangs around him like a koala.

My father is genuinely crying. ‘My munchkin is engaged to such a great man. She is truly growing up.’

‘Dad,’ I laugh, wiping his tears away, but I’m tearing up as well.

After everything that happened, it took him a while, before my father could really look at John the way he did before, but now they’re the best of friends again.

My mom wraps her arms around the both of us. ‘Chris, don’t you agree? Aren’t they your favorite,’— _oh dear God, she’s gonna say sail again_ —‘ship?’

‘Did you just get that right?’ I smile and pull my mom into a hug.

‘Now I finally have the son I always wanted,’ mom jokes, earning her a painful squeeze from me. She pats my hand away, before giving John a hug.

My dad looks at John and say: ‘I wanted to tell you that you should take good care of her, but I know for a fact that you will. You have done so much for her and us already.’ He pulls my boyfr— fiancé in a hug and I smile watching them.

John holds out his hand and when I hold it tightly, he gives me a long kiss on my lips. ‘I have to get used to introducing you as my _fiancée_ ,’ John says.

‘Well, I like the upgrade.’

‘Darcie,’ Raye says, holding Tiki in her arms, while scratching Oreo behind his ears. ‘Ask John about how much the ring was.’

‘Don’t,’ John says, glaring dangerously at my friend.

‘I’d rather not know,’ I say in all honesty. ‘I bet it was way too expensive. Something around two thousand dollars.’

Raye barks out a laugh. ‘Oh honey.’

‘Raye, really, don’t say it,’ John says.

‘How do you know the prize?’ I ask here. ‘Were you all in on this?’

‘I helped him pick out the ring, Jennie helped him think about how he should propose and your dad gave John his blessing two months ago and since your dad can’t keep a secret from your mom, he probably told her.’

‘Oh my God,’ I laugh. ‘The fact that the three of you,’—I point to Jennie, mom and dad—‘kept it a secret doesn’t surprise me, but you, Raye… I’m impressed.’

She nods. ‘Oh Darcie, I’m growing.’ She sighs deeply and smiles at us. ‘The ring was a little over ten thousand dollars,’ she blurts out.

‘Raye, I swear—’ John brings his fist to his mouth.

‘Ten thousand fucking dollars?’ I yell, staring at this ring. ‘I have ten grand on my left hand? John, are you insane?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out this link on my tumblr for some cute instagram posts: https://keanureevesisbae.tumblr.com/post/623056466690080768/never-out-of-practice-epilogue
> 
> Also, this was the last chapter of Never out of Practice, but wait: there is more :)


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